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Fall ale festival coming to Wilsonville

Specialty beers and ciders from many breweries available at McMenamins Boones Ferry Ale Fest

For craft beer connoisseurs, cider lovers and those looking for some indoor fun as the weather chills, the McMenamins in Wilsonville might have just the event for you.

McMenamins Old Church and Pub will host the sixth annual Boones Ferry Autumn Ale Festival 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. All ages are welcome but drinks are for adults over the age of 21.

McMenamins brewer Mike McLeod said the festival will include a covered tent set up in front of the former church filled with tables and an array of beers on tap. Inside the church, ciders will be available.

"I think people should come because it's fun; there's a lot of things going on," Pub Manager Arin Dooley said. "If you're a (McMenamins) passport holder we have the history talk, the brewfest, you can bring your dogs, do a bunch of the flights and win a bunch of prizes."

22 breweries including fellow McMenamins breweries John Barleycorns Brewery, Thompson Brewery, High Street Brewery, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse and Edgefield Brewery will offer beer, some of which can usually only be found at their locations. Other participating breweries include Fort George Brewery, Wilsonville Brewery, Breakside Brewery, Culmination Brewery and pFriem Family Brewers.

Attendees can vote on their favorite ale and then the maker's name will be engraved onto a Boones Ferryman oar trophy.

"What's great about working for McMenamins is we always try to get the year-round beers and the seasonals going on year-round and after that we usually have nine or 10 taps we have to fill up with other beer styles," McLeod said. "So a lot of these beers are some you could only find at one other location so it definitely makes it special and unique to try beer and you go 'Oh that's great. Where (what brewery) is it at?"

McLeod is also excited to try beer from the breweries that have distilleries, such as Cornelius Pass Roadhouse Brewery and Edgefield Brewery.

"What is really great is a lot of times a distiller gets the whisky or the rum out of those barrels. The brewer usually gets them right after, so they're nice and fresh and a lot of times they will soak up all those whisky flavors and also some of that oakwood that's in there as well," McLeod said. "It's awesome."

The festival will also include a live musical performance by the Garcia Birthday Band, an 11 a.m. slideshow presentation about revered Wilsonville children's author Walt Morey and a discussion with female brewers who work for McMenamins, which begins at 1 p.m. Attendees can tour the facility from 1-5 p.m. and a spirit and wine tasting will be available from 2-6 p.m. Food items include a BBQ Pork Sandwich, a Terminator Sausage Sandwich and Roast Pig Platter.

"It's just a really great time. We have a lot of really great foods coming out. There's a lot of great local beers, local music and it is really one of the most unique places," McLeod said.